Yume, Yume No Ato (partially lost Japanese/French fantasy film; 1981): Difference between revisions

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Yumecover.jpg

Poster for the movie.

Status: Partially Lost


Yume, Yume No Ato is a Japanese/French fantasy movie directed by fashion designer Kenzo Takada and released on January 24th, 1981. The film is most noteworthy for its soundtrack, which was composed by the American rock band Journey. This soundtrack was released in 1980 under the English-translated name of Dream, After Dream, and was met with generally positive reviews from American rock critics.[1] However, while the album was released internationally and is quite easy to come by,[2] the film that it was created for has fallen into obscurity, and only an incomplete, dubbed copy has resurfaced since its initial release.

Synopsis

The movie is a fantasy-romance, which centers on the quest of an unnamed young man (Enrico Tricarico). A wise fortune teller (Léo Campion) tells the man that he will find happiness on the other side of the lake, and so the man heeds this advice and heads south. After traversing the desert, the man arrives at the lake, and, finding an abandoned ship nearby, sets sail late at night. As the sun rises, the man loses consciousness, and when he awakens, he has been brought to an ancient castle on the opposite end of the lake. This castle houses two mysterious sisters, named Tsuki (Anicée Alvina) and Yuki (Anne Consigny), the latter of which had saved his life after finding him.

Though charmed by Yuki, the man falls in love with Tsuki, who invites him to bed with her. The man begins weaving fabrics for both of them, yet while the ones he makes for Tsuki are beautiful, Yuki finds hers to be inferior. One day, Tsuki and the man meet outside the castle and make love atop a bed of flowers. Upon their return, Yuki learns of their love affair, and is not pleased. The two sisters begin to fight, and the man feels guilt for the animosity he has caused.

As a result of the quarrel, Tsuki decides she must kill the man, and invites him to bed once more. However, wrapped in his embrace, she finds that she cannot bring herself to stab him. She flees to the terrace, followed by the young man, who watches in awe as she slowly transforms into a bird, unfurls her wings, and takes flight. As she flies off into the distance, Yuki regretfully whispers to the man that he was too beautiful and wonderful for them to love, and yet they had both fallen for him anyway. The man shouts skyward to confess his true love, and is left by himself to face his destiny.[3][4]

The movie also features a governess character played by Liliana Gerace, who oversees both princesses and reminds them of their duties. The film has a runtime of 101 minutes.

Production

The project was announced at a press conference on June 16th, 1980, and shooting for the film began in Morocco in July of that year.[5] The film was a Japanese/French collaboration, as the cast is made up entirely of French actors while the known crew members are a mix between the two. In addition to directing, Kenzo Takada also scripted the movie alongside Xavier De Castella. Other production credits include Hiroaki Fuji and Tatsuo Funahashi as producers, Tatsuji Nakashizu as set designer, Senji Horiuchi and Julien Cloquet as sound designers/recordists, and Setsuo Kobayashi as cinematographer.[6]

Journey became involved with the film after they were approached by CBS/Sony. Takada had requested the company to find a popular group willing to produce the soundtrack, and Journey was chosen so that the movie would increase the band's popularity in Japan. The band, who agreed to the proposal, wrote and recorded the music while in Japan for their Fall 1980 tour after Takada granted them complete creative control over the soundtrack.

Status

In addition to the film’s theatrical run in Japan, it was also released in France under the name of Rêve Après Rêve.[7] However, outside of these screenings, the film has not been officially released on home media, possibly due to Kanzo Takada's shame over negative audience reception at its premiere in Paris.[8] On February 19, 2022, a bootleg copy surfaced on YouTube after being found on a DVD-R, though the audio is dubbed into Japanese and it is missing about 30 minutes worth of material.[9] This was likely sourced from Japanese television, as rumors had circulated for years that it had aired on TV in the past.[10]

Incomplete bootleg copy of the Japanese dub of the film.

The full 101-minute cut of the movie, as well as the original French-language audio, have yet to be found. Some of the scenes missing from the bootleg copy are represented in promotional material, such as production stills and the contents of a program pamphlet, which can be seen below.

Gallery

References